President Donald Trump said Monday that the US Department of Justice is examining the wealth of Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar as his administration faces mounting protests in Minnesota following the fatal shooting of demonstrator Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis.
The remarks link a renewed political attack on Omar with escalating tensions in a state already under scrutiny due to aggressive immigration enforcement and multiple deadly encounters involving federal agents.
Trump said the Justice Department and Congress were “looking at” Omar’s finances, citing reports that her net worth had risen sharply in recent years.
He repeated earlier claims questioning how Omar, who represents Minnesota in the US House of Representatives, accumulated wealth after arriving in the United States as a refugee from Somalia.
Financial disclosures show Omar’s increased net worth is largely tied to income earned by her spouse through business ventures, not her congressional salary.
Omar has denied any wrongdoing and responded publicly by accusing Trump of using investigations to deflect from political pressure.
“Years of ‘investigations’ have found nothing,” she wrote in a social media post.
Trump has previously urged investigations into political opponents and has frequently targeted Omar with personal attacks.
Trump also announced that he is sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota as protests continue over the killing of Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse shot during an encounter with immigration agents on Saturday.
The unrest follows an earlier fatal shooting of Renee Good, a US citizen killed by an immigration officer earlier this month in Minneapolis.
Federal authorities described Pretti as a domestic threat, but video footage showed him holding a cellphone with one hand raised before he was shot.
Omar condemned the shootings, saying, “I am absolutely horrified that federal agents are targeting and executing our residents instead of protecting them.”
She has called for immigration officers to withdraw from the city and for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The protests mark an intensification of criticism over federal enforcement tactics that have drawn nationwide attention.